First Contact
by bloxxerman
Summary: A complete rewrite of the series, with new good guys, new bad guys, and a new mystery... In 2011, a secret network of spies are on a mission to defeat the evil Dr. Inferno. When their best spy is killed, and their leader vanishes, do they care about 2350?
1. Jetpack Chase

**FIRST CONTACT**

Chapter 1

Jetpack Chase

_BZZZZZTTTTTTT!_

The safe door flew through the air, clonking the security guard on the head.

The sunlight glinted through the window, and bounced off the shiny steel of a chainsaw. The chainsaw was Saw Fist's, an agent of the evil and attempted world conqueror Dr. Inferno. He wore an orange suit with splashes of green, and had Dr. Inferno's logo on his suit (a head with glowing orange hair) and he also had a chainsaw in place of one hand. His head was half robotic.

His hand reached in the safe and pulled out a glowing red crystal.

"At last," he murmured. "Dr. Inferno is going to promote me for sure!"

In the doorway, a shadow appeared. "Not if I have anything to say about it." Into the light, stepped Agent Chase, one of the best agents on Squad Alpha, one of the best teams in the whole organization. His suit was blue with the Agent's logo on it (a big A). His hair was gelled back with enough gel to slip up an elephant, and he was holding a knockout ray.

"Agent Chase, we meet at last," said Saw Fist. "I've been looking forward to meeting you. What do you think of my new hand? Pretty cool, huh? And it can do… THIS!"

His chainsaw immediately turned into a laser and he began firing at Chase. Chase quickly leaped and dodged out of the way, and fired his own ray, narrowly missing the already-knocked-out security guard. He knew he couldn't destroy the power crystal.

Saw Fist knew it was hopeless, so he pulled out a little cube, and pressed a button. Out popped two jets, and a harness. "Farewell, Chase! I hope we meet again!" he yelled. He took off out of the window.

Chase pulled out his own jetpack and took off after him. It was snowing outside, and all the trees in the forest were covered in snow. Saw Fist had put the crystal under a glass cover on the pack of his jet pack. Agent Chase took aim and fired at the glass cover…

It was a direct hit. Saw Fist looked back angrily, and then realised it was a bad idea as he narrowly missed a low-hanging branch. Up ahead, he could see Dr. Inferno's helicopter.

"So long, Chase!" he called, and fired his laser.

Chase could see the Agent helicopter coming in fast, and that there was no way the laser was going to hit him. "What kind of shot was that?" he yelled.

"I wasn't aiming for you," Saw Fist cried. "I'm afraid we'll never meet again."

Chase realised he was out of control! Saw Fist had destroyed the control unit! "No, no, come on, stinking machine!" he yelled. He fiddled with the control unit, looked up, saw the tree…

There was a huge explosion.

A laugh came from Inferno's helicopter, a scream from the Agents. The Agents forgot about Inferno and jumped down. The fire was burning hard. There was no way Chase could have survived. They took a few shots at Inferno's helicopter, but he was way out of range.

They tried to put out the fire, but it was burning out of control. They realised it was useless as they heard sirens coming their way. Agents Fuse and Charge grabbed the remains of Chase's jetpack, and ran back to the helicopter to get away before the emergency services arrived.

The smoke was seen from the whole city. As the firemen arrived and got to work, two glowing red eyes watched them from the shadows…


	2. First Contact

Chapter 2

First Contact

The service was short. It had to be as otherwise they would have had to kill the speaker! Afterwards they wiped his memory with the memory eraser, and almost made him forget his name…

Charge, Fuse, and Trace were speaking later.

"I wonder why Sente wasn't at the funeral," wondered Charge. "Chase was like his own son. He tutored him himself! And why have our communications been going mad?"

"We've been receiving signals from an unknown location for ages now," answered Fuse. "Either the technology sending it is highly advanced, or our technology is highly UNDER-advanced."

"I believe the first option," said Trace. "And don't forget, Saw Fist got away. He must be one of Inferno's most deadly agents yet. I don't know how his agents could get any more dangerous! I mean… he's extended to cyborgs! What next - full-on robots?"

In the shadows in the corner of the room, a chuckle was heard. "Roboids will fall? Not today…"

Later, Agents Charge and Trace were heading to Sente's office, to express their condolences. They knocked on the door, but there was no answer. "Knock louder," said Trace. Charge practically knocked the door down!

"Are you getting a bad feeling too?" asked Trace.

"You mean like Sente's been kidnapped?" asked Charge. "Well, let's find out!"

Charge kicked the door right down, and ran in. "Sente? Sente? Where are you?"

The room had been torn apart. The recycling bins were in tatters, and paper everywhere. His computer was in about a thousand pieces, all of them scorched, and the window was melting! There was a stain of red on the chair… they didn't need an analysis machine to know what that was. Suddenly, the room started shaking!

"What the…" murmured Charge.

"It's probably those rookies Power and Crystal again!" said Trace. "They never learn… well, that's not important right now! Sente is missing! Chase is dead! Our organization is falling apart! What next, our robots turning against us?"

In the hologram training room, rookies Power and Crystal were practicing their moves against Break Jaw, another one of Inferno's henchmen. He was so called because he wore a metal helmet with an underbite.

Power ducked under a crushing blow, and kicked at the power unit for his metal claws, and did a double blackflip over his electric snapping jaws.

He grabbed Crystal and began to spin her around, and threw her straight at Break Jaw. Kind of coincidentally, Crystal broke his jaw!

"Success," came the hologram voice. "Suggestions for improvement: maintain your line of fire, and careful - in the field it will kill you."

"Yes!" went Power. "Hey Crystal, now we've kicked some butt, wanna go hang out in the communications room?"

"Yeah, sure!" replied Crystal. "We can try and decode that message we've been receiving for weeks."

The communications room was filled with computer banks. The biggest computer screen in the room had a scrambled up series of letters and numbers.

"How on earth do you break that code?" asked Crystal.

Suddenly the room shook, and all the computers went fuzzy. The room was burning hot, and a series of explosions racketed from computer to computer. All except one. The code began to come together, and Power and Crystal heard the words, "Help. Destroyed everything. Need help. 2350. Whoever gets this. Beware."

Suddenly, the whole room became a swirling torrent of fire. Power and Crystal felt hot and cold at the same time; they felt like they were being torn apart. "Hurry, Power, get your communicator!" yelled Crystal.

Power could only just hear her, he grabbed his communicator, but there was no signal, and it disintegrated in his hand. The screens flashed images of giant robots, yellow, red, silver, and Power could have sworn he saw something outside, but it was just a series of circles, swirling. The computers couldn't stand the heat and blew up. Power and Crystal thought it was the end, but then… silence.

Power and Crystal were shaky, sick, and terrified. After they took a moment to find their legs, they stood up. "What. Happened?" asked Power.

"How should. I know?" replied Crystal. "Look out the window."

Power shakily crawled over to the window. "What? Impossible."

"What?" asked Crystal.

"We're on a huge boat! And look at that town - it's a smouldering wreck! And look, our gadgets - they're a smouldering wreck too!"

Something huge walked past the window. Crystal and Power ducked down. "But how? Who or what, could have done this? Inferno?" said Crystal.

"I know this is going to sound crazy, Crystal," said Power. "But - I think we're in the future! I mean - look at that! A cloning facility! Fuse said we were at least 300 years away from cloning! And - oh my…"

Power nearly fainted, and Crystal almost screamed. There, looking in the window, was a giant robot, holding a very real laser. Crystal gave way to her screams, and the robot smashed the whole wall in! It fired the laser at Crystal, and she fell to the floor. "No!" cried Power, but he was hit too, and everything went black…

The one screen remaining continued the words, only a lot clearer. "Time travel. Last man alive. First contact."


	3. Caleb and the Roboids

Chapter 3

Caleb and the Roboids

Power groaned. His head was throbbing, his chest felt like it was on fire, and he was clamped to the wall. He looked next to him. Crystal was still sleeping, and the room was dark and dingy. He looked up, and saw a zombie-like creature shifting along. Its eyes were just two glowing red balls in a swirling inky black hole. It growled as it saw Power looking up at him. Meanwhile, in the shadows, two sets of glowing blue eyes, and one red, stared out at him.

In stomped a huge menacing robot. It towered over them both, and it didn't have any eyes. It just had a little blinking rectangle. "How did you get here?" it said in a menacing robotic voice.

"Even I don't know!" replied Power, as jets of steam erupted everywhere. "And who are you? We're almost 300 years away from robots like you!"

"What?" replied the robot. "I am Boid, leader of the roboids. How did you two survive? We've killed everyone - except that annoying little pest, Caleb."

At that moment, Crystal woke up, screamed, and promptly fainted again. "We're spies," said Power. "We've been trying to figure out Inferno's latest plan. He just stole a power crystal!"

"Did you say Inferno?" replied Boid.

"Yes. Dr. Inferno, and his henchmen. "One of them, Saw Fist… he killed my best friend, other than Crystal."

"Well. Allow me to ease your pain. I'll kill you as well, then you'll be dead together! And just why did they let Crystal here be a spy? She's more cowardly than a shade."

"A SHADE? What is going ON? I mean - a giant robot threatening to kill me, some zombie-like creatures, a 'shade'…" exclaimed Power.

"I'm afraid I can't answer those questions," replied Boid. "Goodbye, spies."

"NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT!" rang a loud voice. A laser blast shot through the doorway, and Boid froze.

A man ran through the door, and blasted the clamps off of Power and Crystal. They looked at the new arrival. His head was half metal, and one of his hands was covered by a glove with wires poking through. He had a cybernetic implant on the side of his head, and his hand had a freeze ray on the top.

"Come on!" the man yelled. "Follow me, before that tin can wakes up!" They ran throughout the storage units, alleys, and walkways of the huge boat. Power and Crystal saw loads more of the robots, some yellow, some red, some silver, and some more of the zombie-creatures. As they were running, yet more glowing eyes watched them from the shadows…

Back in Power and Crystal's destroyed base, a roboid with blue markings was standing over the computer. He clicked around a bit, then a series of sentences came from the robotic speaker.

"Help! The roboids have destroyed everything. Whoever gets this, beware. I will be bringing you to the year 2350 in one month. You need to stop the theft of the power crystal. You can change the future - and in a good way! Remember - Neuros will fall when - when - I'm not exactly sure. Farewell. Whoever got this message - you have made first contact."

Back with Power and Crystal, they had got to the man's base, right up at the top of the huge ship. "OK," exploded Power. "It's about time you told us what's going on! I mean - who are you? WHAT are you? You look like one of Inferno's cyborg henchmen. And what are those huge robotic things? And and and and…"

"Woah! One step at a time…" he said. "My name is Caleb. Heroic freedom fighter… and last kind-of man on the planet. I was 7 when the roboids revolted on Gamma F1. They destroyed the whole of mankind. I was shot when I was running, and since my mum is a top scientist, she cryogenically froze me and told me she will always love me. I… I…" Crystal could see the tears welling up in his eyes. "I never saw her again. The last time I saw my dad he was on death row, one of the millions of innocent people turned into cruel, heartless roboids."

Crystal was shocked, horrified, and terribly sad at the same time. Power was just plain speechless.

"I was woken up by the roboids. I was on death row, just like my dad… And for a minute, I finally felt at peace. It was like my dad was right there… And then I realised. I had to destroy them. For my dad. For my mum. For everyone… But I saw the machines crawling down, the piercing pain. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open. I managed to duck down, and the machines destroyed each other. I ran… I ran… And I found this place. My mum's old lab. My new home. The thing is… my mum created the roboids. But there's no way I can destroy ten thousand evil robots without help. So, for five years now I've been developing a time machine. I used it to bring you here. I've been searching the archives, but nothing… So - will you help me?"

"Do we have a choice?" asked Crystal.

"No, not really," replied Caleb. "But I can offer you a banana? Or if you're more metal than human - like me… A nice can of oil?"

The base suddenly shook, and a menacing voice rang out. "Caleb. We know you're here. Do not deny it. We will find you. We will destroy you. You are machine - not man. You belong to us. Your mother created us. We will hunt you down. We will kill you. And then, we will go back to the past and wipe out mankind 300 years earlier than planned. We just needed the crystal. And we have it. Your message was too advanced for those primitive fools. And now, we have a new agent on our side. He blames YOU, Crystal and Power, for his robotic arm. He wants revenge. Like us. Your mother tried to destroy us, Caleb. But now, with Dr. Inferno on our side, you will never defeat us! Face it, Caleb… You have lost! Your brother is dead!"

"WHAT?" cried Caleb. "Please, tell me it's not true. Please tell me Chase is still alive!"

"It's true, Caleb," said Crystal sadly. "He was chasing Saw Fist, but his jetpack exploded and he was killed. We has to cover it up by saying it was a car accident."

"I have no idea what a jetpack or a car is," said Caleb. "But your organization killed my last remaining family member. I've got no-one, NO-ONE! I may as well just surrender myself to the roboids."

"No, Caleb," said Crystal. "Now that we've seen the future, we're going to stop it. But… how did Chase end up in our time and you're in this time?"

"The roboids have a time machine. Me and Chase fought them together. They built the time machine, and like I said, they would have wiped out mankind 300 years earlier. Chase jumped in, just as it was working, killed the roboid inside, and swiped out the power crystal. It was a sacrifice for both of us."

"And what do you know of Sente Kiteway?" asked Power. "Sente? That was the name of my dad! And it's also the name of… oh… if only I could remember! Ever since that incide… never mind. Let's just go. There's no point. If Chase is dead, the roboids have the crystal, we've lost. They'll find me. They'll kill me. If I'm gonna die, there's no point running from it. You two don't have to come. But I'm going. Look after my pet banana. Goodbye."

Power knew there was no point arguing as Caleb trudged down the stairs. He found some listening devices with labels to hear what was happening in those places. He switched on the one labelled "Roboid Factory." After a while, they heard screaming, which was definitely Caleb's voice. Then… it was all over.

Power turned to Crystal. "We're all on our own. Chase is dead, Sente is gone, and Caleb is dead too. What do we do now?"

"We go to N-Lab of course!" came a voice from the stairs. Power looked at the stairs, and his gloomy face brightened as up the stairs came Caleb!

"But how…?" began Crystal.

"Roboids are so dumb! I keep a dummy around, and a recording device for emergencies! The roboids think I'm dead, but they'll be looking for you two."

"Not looking - found," came a sinister robotic voice from the window. They all turned and saw the face of a roboid on a jetpack. "I knew you were still alive, Caleb. Even if you knew your brother was dead, you'd never surrender. So, since right under that window is the Roboid Factory, I just need to shoot you all once."

Caleb quickly picked up a laser and shot the jetpack, as the roboid flew out of control and splashed into the sea. But its laser still activated, and it was a dead hit for Crystal!

She screamed as she the window smashed to pieces, and she fell, fell, fell… right on to the conveyor belt. "CRYSTAL!" screamed Power.

"Help!" she cried.

"Look away now," warned Caleb.

Power had to agree as the sharp blades came down, glinting in the sunlight. Crystal screamed, Power went green… and out of the other side came a glinting red war droid.

Power couldn't keep the tears back, and they streamed down his face. "Are we even?" he asked Caleb.

"Yes," replied Caleb. "We're even."


	4. Fire Escape

Chapter 4

Fire Escape

The next day, Caleb came in and spoke to Power. He hadn't left his room since the morning before. "Power?" asked Caleb quietly. "I've got something to tell you. You can still save her."

"How?" asked Power.

"Roboid machinery doesn't fully take over the body for 48 hours. There may be some of Crystal left in that thing. You just have to find one roboid out of 5 million… I'm not helping by saying that."

"Certainly not," grunted Power. "But if there's a chance. What have I got left to lose? And by the way - who is this?"

He held up a robot shaped necklace. It opened up to reveal a smiling girl and boy - no younger than fifteen at least.

"I - I don't know. Where did you find that?"

"Down in those hollow caves beneath Futuregate where you told me to get drinking water."

"Power - don't meddle with things that were never meant to be found."

Later, Caleb was tapping at his computer, poking around the Cycon archives. He was desperately trying to dig up some information on that name, Sente… he knew he'd heard it somewhere before.

"Password protected," beeped the computer.

"Oh, shut up, stupid machine," yelled Caleb at the computer. "OK, how about: Roboids suck?"

"Password accepted," beeped the computer.

"What the… OK. Cool! Someone must have been against the roboids." But the voice that came out was far less cheerful than Caleb's.

"You're all doomed," came a voice from the computer.

"Who is this?" demanded Caleb.

"You can call me a friend," replied the voice. "You should never have brought those two kids here. They should never have brought that necklace up from the caves. You don't know what you've uncovered."

"Uncovered? Uncovered what?"

"A mystery that should have remained hidden. The truth behind the roboids. The real mystery… has just begun.""

"Hey Caleb!" came Power's voice, as they searched the lower deck. All roboids who were not fully converted were stored down there. "Check this out! I think this might be Crystal!"

Caleb ran over, and checked the roboid plate. CR8STA1. "It certainly might be."

"CRYSTAL!" screamed Power.

"Don't be an idiot," said Caleb. "She's powered down. But remember - it might be too late." He fiddled at the back of the red roboid, and its eyes glowed red.

"You have been identified as humans. Prepare to be eliminated," said the roboid.

"No!" yelled Power. "Crystal! I know you're in there! You have to fight it Crystal, you gotta fight it!"

"This does not compute. Prepare to die." said the roboid.

"Crystal! Remember who you are. Who we are. Heroes to the core!"

"Get ready to run, Power," said Caleb. "I think it's too late." He still hadn't told Power of the mysterious message.

Power refused to give up. "You're still in there Crystal. You're still my Crystal. I LOVED YOU!"

The roboid froze. The glinting red eyes began to flash. The laser began to lower. "Power?" came a lot less threatening, but still robotic voice. "Do you really mean that?"

"How charming. What a heart-warming way to wreck a roboid."

"Neuros," growled Caleb. A long tube with a brain inside came in on four robotic legs.

"In the brain," sneered Neuros. "I've been waiting a long time to meet you in person. And - who are these two? Did you finally get that pathetic time machine of yours working?"

"I did, actually," replied Caleb angrily. "And what are you going to do - blow the whole place up over it?"

"Yes," said Neuros bluntly, as a voice from overhead said, "Self Destruct in 10 minutes."

"Goodbye Caleb," said Neuros. "Enjoy the fire."

Caleb turned round to run, and ran slap bang into a Guard. "Power!" screamed Crystal, as the world turned black.

Caleb and Power woke up in a small room with a chair, and a timer counting down. The timer was on 4 minutes and 47 seconds. "We gotta blow this joint," said Caleb, and tried to fiddle with bomb to turn it off. The timer went blank. "YES!" cried Caleb.

"Caleb, where are all the roboids?" asked Power. "Neuros wouldn't just leave them all to die. And - where's Crystal?"

"Let's answer those questions AFTER we don't die," said Caleb.

And then he smelled it. Seeping through the floorboards, coming from somewhere deep in the heart of Futuregate.

Burning.

Even though the bomb hadn't gone off, they had set fire to Futuregate. Caleb knew it even before he saw the first grey wisps of smoke creeping under the door. They suddenly heard a huge explosion as the engines exploded, then a jolt under their feet. Futuregate was sinking! They had set Futuregate alight and left him and Power nailed inside! For a moment he felt panic - black and irresistible - as it engulfed him. More smoke was curling under the door. Caleb sprang to his feet and backed over to the window, wondering if there was some way he could knock out the glass. But that wouldn't help him, or Power. He forced himself to slow down, to think. He wasn't going to let them kill him. A year ago, he was on death row. But he was still alive. He wasn't easy to kill.

"Caleb?" asked Power cautiously.

There were just two ways out of the room: the door and the window. Both of those were obviously hopeless. But what about the walls? They were made of hardboard and plaster. In the room next door, the roboid containment facility, they had been knocked through. Maybe he could do the same here. Experimentally, he ran his hands over them, pushing and probing, searching for any weak spots. His throat was sore and his eyes were beginning to water. More and more smoke was pouring in. He stood back, then lashed out in a karate kick, his foot smashing into the centre of the wall. Pain shot up his leg and through his body. The wall didn't even crack.

That just left the ceiling. Caleb remembered the corridor outside. It had been missing some of its ceiling tiles and he had seen a gap underneath the pipes and wires that ran above. The ceiling in this room was covered with the same tiles.

And they had left them a chair.

"Power! Help me drag this over to the corner!" he yelled to Power.

They dragged it over to the corner nearest the door and Caleb stood on it. The floor had almost disappeared beneath a swirling carpet of smoke. It seemed to be reaching up as if it wanted to grab hold and devour him. Caleb checked his balance, then punched upwards with the heel of his robotic hand. The tiles were made of some sort of fibreboard and broke easily. He punched again, then tore at the edges of the hole he had made. Dirt and debris showered down, almost blinding him. But when he next looked up he saw that there was a space above him. If he could reach, he could haul himself up, over the door and jump down the other side. If they could reach his time machine on the engine level at the very bottom, they'd be safe. Time…

"THAT'S IT!" cried Caleb. "Power, the power crystal, roboid mechanics… they've built another time machine! We've got to go back in time and stop them. According to the time tracer they're in 2012! They're going to cause the end of the world!"

"Caleb?" asked Power. "Could we talk AFTER we're in 2012?"

He ripped out more tiles until the hole was wide enough to squeeze through. He could hear something a few floors below him - a faint crackling. The sound made his skin crawl. It meant that the fire was getting close. He forced himself to concentrate on what he was doing. The chair was wobbling underneath him. If he fell and twisted an ankle, he was finished.

At last he was ready. He tensed himself, then jumped. He felt the chair topple and crash to the floor - but he had done it! His hands had caught hold of an old water pipe and now he was dangling just below the ceiling, his arms disappearing into the space above.

"Come on!" he called to Power.

Power lifted the chair back up and prepared to follow him.

Gritting his teeth, Caleb summoned all his strength to pull himself up into the cavity. His face passed through a cobweb and he grimaced as the fine strands laced themselves over his nose and mouth. His stomach touched the edge of the hole. He was half in and half out of the room. The crawl space was in front of him. Dozens of wires and insulated pipes ran inches above his head, stretching into the distance. Dust stung his eyes. What now?

Power jumped up after him, and Caleb realized something - his time machine was on the next boat along! He could either take the underwater tunnel, or the leap of faith up above. He decided the tunnel was a safer option - but not by much!

Caleb dragged himself along the pipe, bringing his feet up into the ceiling recess. He kicked down with his heels. More ceiling tiles fell loose and he saw the corridor below. There was a drop of about four metres. Awkwardly he swung himself forward, then let his legs and torso hang. Finally he let go. He dropped down, landing in a crouch. He was in the corridor, on the other side of the locked door. With a sigh of relief, he straightened up. He was out of the room but he was at least seven floors up in a huge boat that had been set on fire. He wasn't safe yet. Neither was Power.

The crackling of the flames was louder out in the corridor. The boat had always seemed damp and musty to Caleb but it was going up like a torch. He could feel the heat in the air. The end of the corridor - where the roboid containment facility was - was already shimmering in the heat haze.

Which way? They only had two choices - left or right - and they decided to head way from the containment facility. They hadn't seen a staircase when they went there but there might be one in the other direction. Power took a cautious glance out of the window, and saw half of the boat was already underwater. Smoke trickled up through the floorboards. It hung eerily in the doorways. Very soon it would be impossible to breathe.

They sprinted past the first room where they had been held and continued down the corridor, passing a set of lift doors. He didn't even think about trying the lift. Nothing in Futuregate was working and the doors were welded shut. But next to the lift he found what he was looking for: a staircase leading up and down. The steps were made of concrete, zigzagging round behind the lift shaft. He rested his hand briefly on the metal stair rail. "Come on!" he called to Power, who was close behind. It was hot. The fire was near.

But they had no choice. They began to run down. There were twenty-five steps between each floor; he counted them without meaning to. He turned a corner and saw a door leading into a smoke-filled corridor. Definitely no way out there.

The further down they went, the worse it got. Twenty-five more steps and he came to another door. The corridor on the other side was well alight. There were brilliant red and orange flames, tearing into the walls, leaping up through the floor, devouring everything in their path. Caleb was shocked by their speed and elemental strength. He had to put up a hand to protect himself, to stop his cheeks from burning.

They continued down. The roboids had started the blaze on the engine deck, allowing the air to carry the flames upwards. As Caleb reached the third floor and began the next flight of steps down, he could barely breath. The smoke was smothering him. He wished he'd thought - or Power - to soak their shirts in water, to cover their eyes and mouth. But where would they have found fresh water in a huge abandoned boat? Another twenty-five steps. Then another. They were both choking. He could feel the sweat dripping down his sides. It was like being inside a giant oven. How much further?

He saw the underwater passage; the hollow caves leading to the other boat.

And that was when the roboid appeared, a nightmare creature, stepping out of nowhere as if in slow motion, his gun raised in front of him. Caleb saw the muzzle flash and threw himself backwards, taking Power with him, as a laser beam shot past centimetres above them. They landed awkwardly on the stairs and were already rolling as a second laser beam spat into the concrete, sending fragments of cement flying into the sides of their faces. Somehow they scrambled to their feet and began to climb up again. The roboid fired twice more but for a brief moment, the smoke was on their side, and the lasers missed. Caleb and Power turned a second corner. They didn't stop until they were back on the first floor.

Caleb felt sick - a mixture of fury and despair. They'd almost made it. What was the roboid doing there, waiting for him? Had Neuros guessed that Caleb and Power might somehow manage to escape? It made no sense. But he couldn't think about it now. He was still trapped inside a burning boat and he was rapidly running out of options. The fire was of course only on the inside, if it was the outside the sea would have put it out immediately. He looked along the corridor. It was a furnace. They couldn't go that way. They couldn't go down. That only left up.

Wearily, they started to climb. They made to the second floor with just seconds to spare. As they continued up, there was a sudden rush of flames and a crash as part of the ceiling collapsed. Burning wood, metal and glass cascaded down. The fire had reached the stairs: now the way down was permanently blocked. They would have to try to make it to the roof. To his base. His home. There he had his own little teleporter to secretly teleport from one boat to the other.

They kept climbing. Their hands were black; their faces were streaked with tears. But they didn't stop. They kept climbing. The fire kept chasing them, lapping at their heels like it was afraid of losing them. Then… they were there. They'd done it. Caleb was coughing badly now, his cybernetics beginning to be horribly distorted by the heat. Power put his arm round him and helped him on to the teleporter. After Caleb had got them his far, Power wasn't about to leave him here.

There was a flash of green light, and then Power and Caleb were looking out of the window at the burning ship that they had just been on. Caleb watched sadly as what had been his home for 30 years gave a mighty groan and collapsed into the ocean. His home, everything that might give him clues as to what the roboids were doing, what they were… gone forever. He watched as the last spark flickered out. His chest plate was sparking, his cyber-brain felt like it was on fire. Caleb blacked out.


	5. R & R

Chapter 5

R & R

The year: 2012.

The place: G.U.N. HQ (Guardian Units of Nations)

The time machine Caleb has spent two weeks building, scavenging parts from the reasonably shallow waters of Futuregate Lake, had worked perfectly. Power and Caleb were back in Power's time, and sure enough, G.U.N. wanted details. Inferno had been working on a time machine too, and considering how the roboids suddenly had extra parts, it looked like Inferno had done it!

Caleb's cybernetics still weren't functioning properly, so he was taken straight to the medical hall. Power had recorded the whole thing on his spy cam, and all the agents were stunned at Caleb's dramatic escape.

The next morning, he was woken by the nurse - Diana Meacher - coming into his room.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Tired," Caleb replied.

"How did you manage to think up that escape? I could have never done it!" She went over to the window and raised the blinds. "Everyone's talking about it - although we've all been told we're not allowed to." She came back to the bed and started looking at a computer screen, which was hooked up to his chest plate. "And those weird robot things! How did you survive them for 30 odd years! You must be really brave!"

"Thank you," said Caleb, his voice stronger than yesterday.

"I'd watch out, though, if I were you. Our new boss is hopping mad. He says he didn't spend hours training up two of the most promising young spies ever for you to nearly get them killed before they even go out on their first field mission! Speaking of which… where is Crystal?"

Caleb didn't make eye contact. The nurse got the message.

"Ah…" she said quietly, and left the room, Caleb lost in his thoughts.

Later that morning, the tech guy of G.U.N., Keswick, came in and certainly seemed less than cheerful. He gave Caleb a thorough check-up, starting with his cyber brain and arm and moving on to examine a rather deep knee wound he'd gotten in the escape. He barely spoke a word as he did it.

"It's lucky you're used to this," he remarked at last. He looked and spoke like a long-suffering headmaster. "All those shenanigans could have caused you serious damage, but it looks as if your cybernetics are okay and you're generally in one piece."

"I need to get out and find the roboids!" Caleb said. "They've brought 12 million of them to this time! I need to stop them!"

Keswick chuckled. "Caleb, I think we'd know if 12 million evil robots just suddenly popped up!"

Keswick departed and Caleb was left on his own. He'd heard Power had been transferred to G.U.N. America for all kinds of details, and he had a feeling he wouldn't be seeing him for a while. But he would keep his eye open, and he WOULD find Crystal. To kill some time, he went for a walk down the corridor. He saw nothing of interest, and returned to his room.

A little while later, one of the top agents at G.U.N. came in. He had with him a tall, blonde woman who looked vaguely familiar to Caleb. "Caleb," said the agent. "According to all the recordings you've made, you had a friend. Cybele. Before the Roboids grew in strength, and then you said she just disappeared."

"Yes…" Caleb replied, wearily.

"Caleb - meet Cybele. 21st century Cybele. She's not just a person from your past. She's immortal. She can never die and will never die. For now, the reasons are better forgotten. But while you are stuck here in the 21st century, Cybele will be your guide. There's a lot of things you're not used to."

"Hello, Caleb," said Cybele. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you."

"But we already know each other," Caleb replied. "We were hiding from the roboids for around 30 years together!"

Cybele looked confused. "No, this is the first time we have ever met!"

Caleb realised. The first time he ever met Cybele, back in Futuregate, he was just heading to his lair, when she stepped out of nowhere. Just behind her, were three very deactivated roboids. In about three thousand pieces altogether. She's known everything about him. His name, his past, his favourite foods. Everything!

Cybele nodded and left the room with the other agents.

After this meeting, Caleb was much more optimistic. Now he kind of had a partner, and soon enough they could go looking for the roboids! But spies! G.U.N! He never expected "help" to be a whole organization of highly trained people!

His next visitor arrived just before lunch. It wasn't the person he expected.

In the week they'd spent building the time machine, Power had nothing more to do than tell him all about the top spies at G.U.N. There was Mrs Jones. Alan Blunt, basically leader. He had realized that G.U.N. would want to know about what had happened, since the roboids were now a threat to their time, and Power had told him to expect Mrs Jones. But it was someone else Power had told him about, John Crawley, who arrived, dressed in a nasty blue blazer with a crest on the pocket, and holding a box of Roses chocolates. Power said Crawley had once claimed to be a personnel manager, and that he still wasn't quite sure what he did at G.U.N. He was in his late thirties with thinning hair and a rather worried-looking face. He looked like the sort of man who counted paperclips and kept his pencils in a special drawer.

He sat down by the bed. "Got you these," he said, handing over the chocolates.

"What are these?" asked Caleb. "Roses? I think I read about them in the Cycon archives. Aren't they some kind of green organism that you grew for pleasure? And it also said highly inedible. I think I'll pass. But thanks anyway."

Crawley took the chocolates with a rather strange look on his face. Now that he was closer, Caleb could see that the badge on the jacket belonged to Royal Tunbridge Wells Golf and Croquet Club.

"Our deputy, Mrs Jones, apologizes for not coming in herself. She's in Berlin. She asked me to find out what's going on. Obviously G.U.N are the only ones who know about these roboid things. The police and government are being kept well out of it. How are you feeling, by the way? We've read your archives and very shocked. Who would have thought Cobra would be going on at 2347? I had a run-in with them about ten years ago and it nearly did it for me. (To find out more about Cobra, check out the prequels to this story, coming soon). Anyway, let's get back to Operation Boid. That's what we're calling this, by the way. What exactly happened?"

Crawley took out a miniature tape recorder and laid it on the bed. Quickly, Caleb took him through the events of the last fifty years, starting with the moment the first roboid showed a hint of malevolence in its voice. It occurred to him that Crawley had let slip a little clue about his past that Power probably didn't even know. He too had fought against Cobra. Cobra - was as old as 2012? Well, 2002-ish, if it was ten years ago. 2002. He was so far in the past! The strangest thing was all the little boxes on wheels outside. They looked so strange! He wondered what they were.

Caleb ran right through to the escape from Futuregate, the time machine build, Power and Crystal, and Boid.

"Well, that's quite an adventure," he commented, when Caleb had finished. "I remember when you and I first 'met'. I could see straight away you were something special. I 'knew' your father. I wasn't allowed to tell you that before. I worked with him a couple of times."

Caleb was amazed. Crawley… knew his father? How?

"Crawley…" Caleb began, but Crawley was already leaving.

"Thank you for the information, Caleb. See you again some time."

"Wait!" Caleb cried.

Crawley stuck his head back through the door. "Yes?"

"Boid… had a contact. There were still humans left. The evil ones. Or the sneaky ones. They called themselves Force Three. They describe themselves as eco-terrorists. They said they would help the roboids conquer the universe as long as there was no eco-damage. It seems very likely that if the roboids went back in time, Force Three went back with them. I do believe their leader called himself Kaspar. He was very persistent about slowing down global warming."

"I would have said he rather added to it by setting fire to Futuregate."

"I thought so too."

"What else can you tell me about him? Did he speak with an accent?"

Caleb thought back. "I don't think he was English. He might have had a slight French accent. I'm not sure."

Crawley nodded. "Just one more question. Back at Futuregate. You said you mentioned Dr. Inferno. Did Boid ever claim to know him? Maybe even ally with him?"

"It seems likely. He definitely knew the name. I don't know how anyone would have got to my time though. Except Cybele."

"Thank you, Caleb." Crawley pressed a button on the tape recorder. There was a click as it stopped turning. "You know, Force Three weren't originally from 2350. They're active today. This time-hopping is doing my head in."

"So you know them? Who is Kaspar? Who is Force Three? What's it all about? All I know about them is that Boid must like them, and therefore they must be evil."

"It's a long story."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Well," Crawley began. "Let's start with Nikolei Drevin. I suppose you've heard of him."

"No."

"Ahh, yes. 2350 and everything. Well, he's a Russian multibillionaire. Well, born in Russia. An absolutely wonderful man. He lives in England a lot of the time, and he's made it clear that he likes to think of himself as English. He bought a football club."

"What's football?"

"Never mind. Safe to say it's very influential at this period of time. He has a huge in Oxfordshire, a penthouse near Tower Bridge and houses all over the world. He even has his own island out in the Caribbean. Flamingo Bay. That's where the launches take place for Ark Angel. Ark Angel is the name of the space hotel that he's building. It's being put together piece by piece, and he has to send rockets up every now and then with the next component. You probably don't know this, Caleb, but the British government are partners in the project and it means a great deal to them. The first hotel in space and it'll by flying a British flag! Ten years from now, commercial space travel will be a reality."

"I read about that in the archives!" Caleb cried. "An American businessman paid twenty million dollars to do that."

"Yep," Crawley replied. "Once Ark Angel is up and running, more will follow. The most powerful and influential people in the world will be queuing up for tickets, and we'll be the ones supplying them."

"I think Kaspar mentioned outer space," Caleb said. "He didn't seem too happy about the idea."

"Kaspar is a fanatic," Crawley replied. "It's true that few wild birds got wiped out on Flamingo Bay when the launch pad was set up. As a matter of fact, there aren't any flamingos there any more. Friends of the Earth and the World Wildlife Fund got a bit upset about it, but you don't see them going around murdering people. Force Three's a different matter."

"What do you know about them?"

Crawley scowled. "Not a lot. Before this year, nobody had ever heard of them. Then a woman in Germany wrote an article about them in _Der Spiegel _and a few days she was shot in the street. The same thing happened in London just over a week ago. A chap by the name of Max Webber denounced them at a conference on international security and got blown up as a result. We're looking into both deaths right now - that's why Mrs Jones is in Berlin. Force Three seems to be something new. Eco-terrorists… It's all very alarming."

"What about Kaspar?"

"Apart from what you've told us, we hardly know anything about him."

"Well, he should be easy enough to catch." It was something that had puzzled Caleb from the start. The tattoos. He had tattoos on his face that made his head look like a giant globe. "With a face like his, you'll be able to spot him a mile away."

"At least we know what we're looking for. As for Drevin, he can take care of himself, I imagine. He's got plenty of security out on Flamingo Bay. Our real worry is that Force Three might have a crack at Ark Angel. They've already blown up a car manufacturing plant, a research centre and quite a few other installations. Of course, they'll have their work cut out. After all, Ark Angel is three hundred miles up in outer space. One thing though: Drevin had been complaining of giant robots entering his base, and generally blowing things up. Everyone thought he had gone loony. We were thinking about shipping him off to an asylum. But then he showed us this photo."

Crawley held up a photo of Caleb, foot on a roboid, looking very proud. He was wearing a very strange looking helmet, with a fluorescent green visor.

"Does this ring any bells?"

Caleb shook his head. "This is my first time anywhere other than the 2300s. Wait! I remember! The VR Training Simulator! That looked like a tropical island. With rockets and stuff. Are you saying… that was real? I actually had a time machine all this time!"

"Looks that way," Crawley replied. "Anyway, we've given Drevin a shout, let him know the person that saved his career is here. I'm sure he's enormously grateful. I wouldn't be surprised if a large cheque didn't turn up in the post. At the very least, you might get a couple of tickets to watch a football game."

"I don't want a cheque," Caleb said. "I want to find out what Boid, the roboids, Dr. Inferno, Force Three, Kaspar, them all… want!"

"I heard the doctor says you can leave this evening." Crawley slid the tape recorder into his pocket. "I've stayed long enough," he said. "Very good to see you, Caleb. I'm sure we'll meet again."

_I'm sure we'll meet again._

Caleb remembered the words now as Cybele showed him what would be his home for the time being. Did Crawley really think he would ever work with G.U.N? If so he was very much mistaken. Caleb intended to take down the roboids himself. Alone. The way he'd been doing it for years. He'd found himself in a world where he couldn't believe anybody and where nothing was quite what it seemed.

Cybele had been telling him about her very long past. In recent years, she'd been looking after a 15-year-old spy, who'd recently moved to America, in an attempt at a normal life. From the way she'd been speaking to him, it seemed as though Caleb would be treated as a 15-year-old for a while.

His new home was nice. It was in Chelsea, a two-storey house with three bedrooms, a nice size living room, and a huge screen thing in it. Cybele told him people watched it for fun, but Caleb found it rather boring, looking at a huge black screen for ages. Cybele used a little stick thing with buttons on it to turn the screen into other things, but Caleb found them all just as boring.

Caleb had been there for three months now. He'd heard nothing from Power. It was too late for… Crystal. Cybele was a nice "guardian." Every day he went out looking for roboids and Inferno, and Boid, and everyone else. No luck.

The phone rang in the hall.

"I'll get it," Cybele said.

Caleb took the dirty plates they had been eating scrambled eggs from over to the dishwasher and began to stack them. About two minutes later, Cybele came back in. There was an odd look on her face.

"Who was it?" he asked.

"It was for you. I don't believe it! That was Nikolei Drevin. "

"He rang himself?"

"Yes. He's invited you to have tea with him this afternoon. He's giving a press conference at the Waterfront Hotel and he wanted to know if you'd come along and meet him afterwards."

"What did you say?"

"Well, I told him I'd ask you and he said he'd send a car." She shrugged. "I guess he expected you to say yes."

Caleb thought for a moment. Mr Crawley had said that Drevin would probably get in touch. "Do you think I should go?"

Cybele sighed. "I don't know. I suppose he wants to thank you. After all, you saved him billions of pounds. If the roboids had destroyed Ark Angel, that would be his reputation, plus almost twenty billion pounds, down the plughole."

"I could call him back and say you're too tired," Cybele added.

For a moment, Caleb was tempted. The last time he'd met a multimillionaire, it was back in 2332 - before the roboid revolution. That had been Damian Cray - and the experience had nearly killed him. (See Falcon Strike, prequel #4, coming soon). On the other hand, this was different. Drevin was a target. It was Boid and Force Three who were the enemy. And it was fair enough that Drevin should want to meet him after what had happened. Caleb felt awkward about saying no.

Sometimes it's the tiniest things that can mean difference between life and death. A few centimetres of kerb had saved Caleb from the Roboid Revolt. (See Cobra, prequel #5, coming soon). Now two words were going to drag him back into the world he thought he'd left behind. Caleb preferred to work alone. He'd never said it, but he'd worked with an agency like G.U.N once before. He'd had friends like Power and Crystal. Friends who were now dead because of one thing he'd done. One small mistake. But these two words would drag him back into it all.

"Let's go."


End file.
